iran…

The chronology on this page will be regularly updatedBelow: map of protest areas

comments, links and various photos have now (9/8/18) been moved to the bottom of this page

a chronology of events both recent and not so recent

I wrote the paragraph below about Tunisia on January 9th, before the dominant English-language media started reporting it:

Iran effect? – On 8th and 9th January, riots against high prices & increased taxes spread across Tunisia, involving around 28 different areas; so far, like in Iraqi Kurdistan, the mainstream media has remained silent about it (for details see News of Opposition). Of course it’s hard to know whether this is partly due to Iran, but it’s very likely – overcoming fear with fury is contagious and proletarians historically have always been influenced and encouraged by revolts in different parts of the world to confront their own specific miseries.

Iran: large protests in 6 towns & cities “…Sanandaj (west): people gathered in Enghelab (revolution) Square, and Azadi (freedom) square and chanted “death to dictator.” They clashed with State Security Force (SSF) and set an SSF kiosk on fire. Authorities tried to disrupt the Internet connection in city. Clashes have continued, and the regime has brought in water cannons to disperse the crowd… Kermanshah (west): Protest erupted at Freedom square, with chants of “death to Khamenei”, “death to dictator.” A woman started the protest. “Death to Khamenei” was chanted non-stop. Plain clothed security forces have begun arresting protesters. Anti-riot forces arrested 7 protesters, but people charged at them, and the anti-riot forces retreated and released the protesters. Several protesters were arrested.”

Report here, which, though containing nothing I object to, adds little to discussion of the situation that’s not been said elsewhere, apart from this: “None of the Green Movement supporters — who are mostly from the educated middle class — have come out in support of the protests, because they see more of a future in Rouhani’s policies than any other alternative, even if they are unhappy with the regime,” says Ghaemi. “The protests have a clear class dimension. They are coming from a segment of young people who feel they have nothing left to lose.”

Iran, Asaluyeh: oil refinery workers go on strike“…three days ago on Monday January 1, 2018 , in line with the nationwide protests against Iranian regime, the headquarter of the people’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) had called for strike in the oil industry in addition to military and ammunition production industries as a necessary and vital step to cripple the Iranian regime.Last month, More than 1,000 workers added their names to a petition to the public broadcaster, calling on the organization to send an investigative team to report on terrible working conditions and unpaid wages. The petition was organized by IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics of Iran (UMMI), and addressed to Seyyed Mehdi, director of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Corporation. The petition is significant, because independent union activists are severely persecuted in Iran, and it is rare for workers to publicly identify themselves as union supporters. The workers of the South Pars Oil and Gas fields and the refineries of Bandar Abbas and Bushehr in Southern Iran submitted the petition because they face unbearable conditions. The oil and gas industry is controlled by the Ministry of Petroleum through the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company, the world’s second biggest oil company….”… deaths reported as clashes with state continue in Sanandaj, and dozens of other cities…Tehran: sit-in at prison by families of those arrested“Tonight … lots of armed forces were called in to mop up 70 to 80 relatives who were sitting in protest against the detention of their children. They told us we should leave or we will all be arrested. We said we are all ready to join our kids inside the prison. We will not go anywhere until we get some news about our kids. All we know is that they are on hunger strike. We are holding a peaceful sit-in to say we want our innocent children released,” she said. “We know they are being held in Evin Prison but four days after their detention we still don’t know what kind of situation they are in.”

3/1/18:

Iran: state-sponsored counter-demos…as clashes continue in several cities “…in addition to Tehran, various cities of the country kept the flames of the uprising aflame. In Zahedan’s Shirabad district skirmishes between the people and anti-riot forces occured. The mercenaries are firing on people and people are confronting with stones. In Ahvaz, the Basijis have come to the scene with police uniforms. The Basijis motorcyclists are moving with a lot of noise. The mercenaries rotate their weapons to exacerbate their intimidation atmosphere. The brave youth of the Shadegan region (Ahvaz) are confronting the attacks of anti-riot guards with throwing stones. In Bandar Abbas, the slogan of death to Khamenei, death to the dictator resonates everywhere. In Dezful, the brave protesters shout Seyyed Ali shame on you, Let go the country, and clashes in the Sabzeh Ghaba neighborhood broke out. In Malayer, a rumbling of the slogan of the nation begs, Ayatollah Khamenei acts like the Lord, has filled the atmosphere of the city. In Isfahan, skirmishes broke out between the people who were chanting Seyyed Ali shame on you, leave your reign, and the riot forces. The anti-riot police officers shot directly at the people. In Ghourtan in Isfahan clashes broke out and the sound of blast is heard from the conflict zone. Some law enforcement officers fled during a clash with the demonstrators in Joughabad, Isfahan. In Kermanshah, some police officers escaped the brave youth. A large crowd rallied on the street of Farmandary in Torbat Heydariyeh. People chanted slogans against the anti-riot forces: Do not be afraid, do not be afraid. We are all together. Leave Syria Think about us.”SF Note: Shirabad and other Zahedan settlements have a population of several hundred thousand and contain one of the largest and most deprived marginalized poor in the country….3 police and security forces killed in Piranshahr…Twitter thread mentioning burning of Basij (Islamic Revolutionary Guard) certificates by Basij members

This twitter feed also mentions people barricading the path to a prison.

2/1/18:

Iran, Qahderijan: police station attacked & torched (video)…6 protesters killed there…More here“A young member of the Revolutionary Guards and a passer-by were also reported dead in towns near the cultural hub of Isfahan city, while TV had earlier confirmed the death of a policeman in nearby Najafabad, shot dead with a hunting rifle. That brings the estimated death toll to 21 in five days of unrest that represent the biggest challenge to the Islamic regime since mass demonstrations in 2009….The young are most affected, with as many as 40 percent out of work according to analysts, and rural areas particularly hard-hit.” And here “In the western city of Kermanshah, protesters set fire to a traffic police post”…More here “In Rasht, protesters throw hand grenades to the Basijis in the alleyways leading to the Sabzeh Maidan….In Tabriz, scores of Revolutionary Guards, Bassij militias, and anti-riot guards, packed on the central streets of the city including the Clock Square, were deployed. Confrontation broke out between the courageous people and mercenaries, and the people defend themselves with hand grenades…In Behbahan, courageous youth burned down the seminary of the mullahs as a sign of disgust from the corrupt and criminal mullahs…”…claim that over 70 towns & cities involved in protests (largely uninteresting interview with Marxist-Leninist)

1/1/18:

Iran, Najafabad: cop killed, and 3 others wounded, by gunfire; attacks on police stations and military bases reported…call for a General Strike“By calling for a strike, the protesters may be trying to link up with the country’s national labour movement, which did not happen during the so-called Green Revolution of 2009, when workers largely refused to participate in marches and demonstrations. Holly Dagres, an Iranian-American analyst warned that a leaderless movement presents risks for the authorities too. “[It] can be problematic for the Iranian government because it’s really hard to point fingers at who to blame, which is what they did during the 2009 post-election protests known as the Green Movement,” she said. “They blamed the Green Movement leaders and eventually in 2011 put them under house arrest. At the same time, a leaderless movement provides an opportunity for President Rouhani to step in and address the grievances. “It also presents an opportunity for someone to manipulate [the protests] for their own agenda. We’re already seeing that happening with opposition groups outside of Iran like the monarchists and Mujahideen Al Khalq and the National Council of Resistance of Iran. They are using the protests as an excuse to push for regime change in Iran.” More here “Unemployment in the wider economy is above 12 percent, and double that among young people…. eggs now twice as expensive as a year ago. In addition, his policy of cutting state handouts offered by his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has left households more exposed to price volatility. … “We’ve had enough of life without jobs, life without money,” …Some of the cities that have widespread protests are among the poorest cities in Iran.”

“Reformists, hardliners, your time is up” “Many… Iranians see the reformists in the same camp as the hardliners who give them false hope to keep quiet”…”The so called reformists and the hard liners are the two cheeks of the same arse.”…

…Instagram & Telegram blocked” Relatively fewer chants were heard in support of two opposition leaders under house arrest, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. …Some videos showed protesters apparently setting bins on fire and trying to break into government buildings….Ali Vaez, Iran project director at International Crisis Group…said: “Given its lack of leadership, organisation and mission, it is likely to peter out or will be quelled.“This latter comment is obviously bollocks, the wishful thinking of those who would like to impose leadership and organisation on this movement. Which is not to say that its lack of an explicit radical perspective, like that of almost all social movements over the last few years, is not problematic – but that’s down to the despair of the current epoch which has long repressed a significantly effective revolutionary critique which could encourage and clarify those desperately opposing the specific forms the forces of the world market and the state take in different parts of the world.

Apparently in Dorud 10 people have been killed by state forces working undercover (not confirmed). Should be pointed out that in the 1979 uprising against the Shah there were times when 40 people a day were being killed. See, for example, Ryszard Kapuściński’s “Shah of Shahs”. Also worth pointing out that, despite the dominant, and as we all know all too well, ultimately victorious, Islamic ideology of the 1979 revolution (backed principally by the French bourgeoisie), there were some experiments in workers councils in factories and oil refineries at that time: see this and this.

Also mentions an attack on government offices in Hamedan, with protesters chanting: “Death to the Islamic Republic”, “We don’t want Islamic Republic” and similarly in Qom, where they also chanted “Death to Hezbollah” and Ghavzin where “Mullahs must get lost” was shouted and in Shiraz anti-Hezbollah slogans were also chanted as well as posters of leading military and Revolutionary Guards being torn down; and widespread collective and successful resistance to arrests. This twitter feed also mentions that in some places Revolutionary Guards are “coming over to the people”, whatever that means. In fact, a dangerous illusion even if true: whilst some sections of the military and cops may well support an uprising, unless this leads to a general arming of the masses of individuals, and the destruction of the monopoly of arms in the state’s hands, it will turn out like a variant of Egypt following the Arab Spring (or, several other examples of situations where the military could no longer support the previous heads of state, but went on to support new heads of state which crushed all forms of opposition). As always, obnoxious “oppositional” politicians supported by the US or other blocks are hovering like vultures waiting to swoop down and consume this movement.

Iran: demonstrations in 4 cities against regime“The residents of Mashhad were protesting against the rising cost of living. There were angry chants of “Death to the Dictator” and “Death to Rouhani.” The demonstrators also chanted “Forget about Syria, think about us”, “don’t be scared, we are all together.” Similar protests were held in cities of Neyshabur and Shahroud. In Mashhad, repressive state security forces attacked protesters.” This mentions Yazd as another city experiencing protests.

Iran: refinery workers go on strike & warn that they’ll destroy refinery“Unfortunately, during the first six months of this year, the situation has been catastrophic for the poor strata of the society, which, like most non-oil companies and factories, most of the oil section force have received only one-and-a-half percent of their salaries in the past six months. Given the hardship and life-threatening dangers of this type of activity in the southern regions, with unbearable heat and sultry weather in the outskirts of the city, in a closed camp environment with very limited facilities, is our share of daily oil and gas production one month salary for every six months of work? …Most companies of the Refinery have closed down or half-closed due to the lack of funding.” “We, the workers of the Persian Gulf Star Oil Refinery, announce that in order to end the situation and endure this horrible summer without a salary, we will continue our protests peacefully only a week before October 5, and if our objections are not fulfilled, with apology to the honorable nation of Iran, we will break down and destroy the sites in the refinery.””

26/9/17:

Iran, Arak: CEO of strike-torn industry arrested“It seems likely that his arrest was designed to end the workers’ strike, placate the protesters, and perhaps even punish him for causing the protest by not paying the workers. …After Azarab workers held a protest assembly and its subsequent unpleasant events, Azarab’s officials settled 18 million rials (roughly $536) wages of each worker; whereas they could have done that before the outbreak of protests.”

23/9/17:

Iran, Arak: report of cops being arrested for not beating up workers protesting unpaid salaries(see entry for 19/9/17 below).“The Iran regime has arrested some police officers…The police officers did not follow the order to beat the workers as they said, “We will not beat our countrymen with baton.”… On Wednesday, September 20, 1800 workers of the Azarab factory in Arak gathered in the factory for the fourth day of their protests, for lack of payment of their salaries and benefits for six months.”

Iran, Kurdistan province: roads closed, clashes with state in regional capital as protests against cop killings of cross-border porters spread“Despite all the security measures and obstructions, protests were held in Sanandaj. On some streets, there was a chase between the riot force and the protesters, during which a number of young people were arrested. Reports indicate the arrest of at least 11 young protesters by security forces. According to reports, a young man’s arrest in Ferdowsi Street caused chaos in the protest and led to a clash between security forces and protesters. The cities of Kurdistan are tense after the protests in Baneh. The people of Baneh are still in strike. Local sources say that routes to Baneh are closed.”More here in French “Demonstrations and protests continue in many cities in the province of Iranian Kurdistan for the fifth consecutive day. These spontaneous demonstrations broke out after the killings of two Kolbers workers…assassinated by the repressive forces of the totalitarian and fascist Iranian regime, not far from the city of Siné during the day of Monday 4th September 2017. Kolbers are the Kurdish name given to local precarious workers, porters and freight carriers who operate in the mountainous border regions of Iran-Iraq-Turkey. They are regularly targeted and shot dead or seriously wounded by border guards and the Iranian military under the guise of “combating smuggling” …While demonstrations continued yesterday 7th September and today 8th September 2017 in the towns of Baneh and Sineh, militants and activists from the city of Kermanshah called for action yesterday, whilst leaflets also circulated inviting the population of Sine and other towns of Rojhelat to descend into the streets.10 former Kurdish political prisoners and civil activists who had been arrested and later released for showing solidarity with the people of Rojhelat began yesterday a three-day hunger strike to protest the attacks on the Kolbers.…As the anger of the population continues to grow against the genocidal and discriminatory policies of the Iranian regime and its attempts at repression, it has continued to send its police and military forces to the large towns of the Rojhelat in an attempt to intimidate and frighten the Kurdish population.…Teheran has deployed a large number of Etelaat agents in “civilian” form … in Baneh, Marivan, Sine, Sardasht, Kermanshah and Sanandaj . In addition,…the regime is also deploying massively its sinister anti-riot units of Motorcyclist Voltigeurs, and units of the Revolutionary Guards of the IRGC in all the strategic places located around the government buildings of the cities quoted above. It should also be noted that the Fatah Police in charge of surveillance of Iranian cyberspace has succeeded in virtually cutting off all the internet connections of the province, hence the few videos and photos of the protests in progress in the Rojhelat which reach us via social networks.“ More here in English

Iran: a look at workers’ opposition over the last year (traditional “reformist” site; e.g. currently – i.e. 6/1/18 – it publishes dreadful opportunist statements coming from Trump’s regime without the slightest comment on their indifference to the vast majority of Iranians)

Iran: various expressions of anti-regime anger during the Fire Festivals in different parts of country “… In Tehran… youth threw firecrackers in front of police vehicle that damaged the front part of the vehicle, causing fear of the suppressive forces. In Tehranpars, youth also burned a large portrait of Khomeini and Khamenei. In Mashhad youth threw Molotov cocktails at the headquarters of the repressive Bassij organ at Vakil Abad Boulevard. The youth of Shahr-e Kurd set up fire all across the city, threw Molotov cocktails at police forces and clashed with them. In Isfahan, the sound of explosions can be heard all over the city. In Baneh, people celebrated using grenades and firecrackers and fireworks. Repressive police forces do not get out of their vehicles in fear of the wrath of the youth. …Fire Feast was celebrated while repressive forces had a dense presence with motorized patrols in the streets seeking to intensify the atmosphere of intimidation in the society. During recent days, the state-run media continually broadcast the ridiculous fatwa of Khomeini and his affiliated mullahs on disapprobation of Fire Feast and calling it sinful. Police chief Hossein Ashtary threatened to seriously deal with the aggressors and violators of the people’s rights. Tehran police chief Hossein Sajedinia said: “In case those who disturb the order cause inconvenience, the police will confront seriously.” (Tasnim, March 14th ).However, the regime’s officials failed to hide the main cause of their fear of this national celebration. Saad, a member of the regime’s parliament said, “The Fire Feast in recent years has turned from a traditional one to a dangerous ceremony.””More here: “…in the Iranian capital, Tehran, a number of local youth who had gathered on the Air Force Fifth Street to celebrate the annual Festival of Fire of the ancient Iranians clashed with the security police who were out in force to prevent the public to carry out their festivities. The youth used fire crackers, sound bombs, squibs and spitdevils to scare off the suppressive security forces….According to reports from the notorious Gohardasht prison, the suppressive prison warden has, as his usual in every year, prevented the prisoners from going outside their cells to take a breath of fresh air on the eve of the Fire Festival celebrations. The warden fears that the prisoners might light up fire and celebrate the Fire Festival. But the political prisoners defied these suppressive measures and lit fire inside the hallways and jumped over the fire in celebration of Feast of Fire. The prisoners chanted ‘death to the dictators’, and ‘Death to Khamenei.’”

fire festival

“…a good love is one that casts you into the wind, sets you ablaze, makes you burn through the skies and ignite the night like a phoenix; the kind that cuts you loose like a wildfire and you can’t stop running simply because you keep on burning everything that you touch!” – C. JoyBell C.

Iran, Ahvaz: illegal demonstration demanding clean air, water and electricity “It is noteworthy that over the past week every day, protests over dust storms, power failures and government mismanagement in one of Iran’s most oil-rich cities have been continuing. Residents of Ahvaz, a city near the border with Iraq, has been protesting for Seven days in increasingly large gatherings, shown in cellphone video clips shared on social media….It is also remarkable that, frightened of these protest rallies expanding, the Iranian regime has dispatched anti-riot and the Revolutionary Guards’ Basij militia groups from neighboring Fars Province to Ahvaz, and meaningfully lowered the internet speeds in Ahvaz to prevent the uploading of any video clips showing people’s demonstrations and protests.”

Iran: cops repress Festival of Fire“Iranians, particularly young people across Iran, defied the mullahs’ regime and its extensive security measures, happily celebrating the Feast of Fire, in the evening of the last Wednesday of the Iranian year ending 20th March. In the Iranian capital, portraits of Khomeini generously supplied bonfires in the Valenjak neighborhood and flames in Isfahan greedily devoured the pictures of Khamenei. Young people jumped over the fire with redoubled enthusiasm. In Shiraz, southern Iran, despite the deployment of security forces in various neighborhoods, sound firecrackers and grenade explosions could be heard throughout the city…In Mashhad, northeast, large explosions reverberated in the areas of Ghasem-Abad Ahmad Abad and Tolab. In Orumieh in the north-west, people and especially youths jumped over bonfires in several streets and cracked firecrackers and sound grenades all over the city. In Zanjan, northwest, joyful explosions of firecrackers continued to resonate, especially in the city center, in the areas of North and South Saadi, Darvazeh Rasht, instead Sabzeh the Chamran Boulevard, the Safa Street. In the belt of Tehran …sound grenades and mortar fireworks made Varamin tremble with joy. The fire festival lit up the small bazaar Bushehr, in southwestern Iran, Bandar-Abbas (south) and Langaroud (north). Finally as joy and celebration are the enemy to be defeated, all the security organs were on red alert. Young people of Mahabad in Kurdistan were ready to do battle. Despite police reinforcements and arrests, most managed to get away from the police .” (short report in English here)

“Iran: Bread. Jobs. Freedom” – interesting radical report & analysis“The bright spot among all the confusion were the students. On the third day, they really shifted the paradigm of the revolt, mostly in Tehran, and it spread in many other parts of the country. They opposed the reactionary slogans with “even women has joined us, but you lazy men are just standing by”, they changed the pro-nationalist slogan of “neither Gaza, nor Lebanon, I will die only for Iran” with a much deeper slogan of “From Gaza to Iran, down with the exploiters”. They also added some class-conscious slogans promoting councils, or encouraging people to move beyond the fake dualism of reformists and fundamentalists.” This latter comment – “encouraging people to move beyond the fake dualism of reformists and fundamentalists” seems, from my long-distance reading of the situation, not exactly accurate as I’ve seen comments attacking this false dualism outside the student movement in Tehran (here). Also, one wonders how many people shouted or wrote up the more radical slogans, whether it was a significant number or hardly any. Equally, though undoubtedly this will seem like another quibble, to equate “Jobs” with “Freedom” seems rather populist insofar as I doubt those who wrote this text really think this. I want to add that, though the intensification of miserable conditions can lead to normally conservative elements in the population to feel they have nothing to lose by taking to the streets, such misery in itself doesn’t always lead to an uprising; at the same time, even many of those who have relatively secure living conditions globally are capable of taking risks against the system. I say this to counter the tendency to a complacent determinism – the idea that increasing immiseration leaves the proletariat with no choice but to make a revolution, when it’s obvious from the people and situations we know that it’s always a question of choice – that nightmarish situations can just as easily lead to a suicidal death-wish or mad homicidal tendencies as to revolt. Such minor nuances apart, this seems to be probably the best English-language article on the situation there so far.

This too has some interesting facts and analysis: “Banks are loath to begin financing investments, since they could see those projects fall under sanctions if (or once) Trump pulls the plug on the nuclear deal. The never-ending drama about whether Trump will or will not kill the deal has been designed to achieve exactly this: create uncertainty about the deal’s future in order to deter investors from entering the Iranian market. This absence of investment, in turn, has contributed to growing unemployment and unmet expectations about the direction of the Iranian economy—an underlying cause of these protests. If the nuclear deal and the sabotaged sanctions-relief process created unmet expectations, it was the government’s proposed 2018 budget that left the population seething. The leaked budget proposed slashing subsidies on basic goods, including food and services for the poor, while increasing fuel prices by as much as 50 percent. But while poor people would have to face austerity, opaque religious institutions controlled by conservative political elements would be spared from austerity cuts, as would the IRGC [the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps].”

However, it’s flawed, to say the least (inevitably, given The Nation’s lefty-liberalism and the fact that the author is president of the National Iranian American Council), with comments such as “Iran’s youth want to connect with the outside world and be part of the global community, rather than stand on the outside looking in.”. For one thing, who is this person who claims to speak on behalf of “Iran’s youth”? As if “Iran’s youth” was a singular entity with just one conservative desire which the author is privy to? Also – what is this “global community”? Even if many Iranian youths have illusions in such a fantasy “community”, it doesn’t exist except as an ideology of the dominant insidious colonisation of people’s desires and aspirations with the mirage of the happy consumer increasingly neurotically integrated into the pseudo-community of separated individuals. Undoubtedly when you’re largely excluded from a vast variety of consumer goods and lifestyles, they seem like something positive from “the outside”. But the grass always seems greener on the other side of the global hierarchical fence, and intensified suicidal depressions and anaesthetisation through drugs etc. amidst the vast isolation and absence of community, coupled with increasingly suffocating work conditions, is not something that those who live in different more impoverished parts of the world are likely, or want, to be aware of.

Added 6/1/18: this has a good summary and radical take on the forces at work, and makes clear the differences with the movement of 2009. And this interview with an Iranian atheist (about whom I know nothing other than this) is very informative – definitely worth watching.

The National Council Of Resistance Of Iran is sometimes worth looking at for information, even though it publicises this information purely for opportunist reasons. It’s clearly a repulsive political racket that wants to boost its leaders’ ambitious fantasies of becoming Iran’s heads of state. It even goes so far as to publish, without irony or the slightest critical sense, the very obviously cynical “support” from Washington and Trump’s gang, designed to functionalise the movement so as to justify its geopolitical manipulations in the region.

I know about this last site you mention – but they seem to be remarkably lacking in details about what’s been happening, and only put up this statement 1 or 2 days ago, not having said anything previously – a statement which doesn’t add anything – it’s at best banalities. For all its appalling pro-Western politics, at least the National Council of Resistance (https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/iran-protests) gives some interesting facts (eg I found out about the strikes now starting in the oil refineries from their site).